Hospital: Virus led to Carter ailment

CLEVELAND - A viral infection is the likely cause of the stomach distress that sent former President Jimmy Carter to a Cleveland hospital after a flight from Atlanta, medical staff said Wednesday.

Carter, who was spending a second night in the hospital, was recovering and the viral infection was clearing up, said a statement from MetroHealth Medical Center.

"President Carter thanks all those who have expressed concern and sent greetings to him," the statement says.

The 85-year-old ex-president became ill Tuesday during the Delta Air Lines flight, causing rescue crews to rush him to the hospital after the plane landed. He was whisked from an airplane to the facility's emergency room, and was placed under round-the-clock monitoring by a team of doctors.

"President Carter is in very good spirits, appreciates all the good wishes being sent his way, and looks forward to getting back to his busy schedule," hospital officials said in an earlier statement Wednesday.

Carter's medical team had recommended that he stay a second night for additional monitoring, hospital spokeswoman Susan Christopher said.

On Tuesday, Carter's grandson, Georgia state Sen. Jason Carter, said his grandfather was doing fine.

"He's definitely resting comfortably and expected to continue his book tour this week," Jason Carter said. "I haven't talked to him, but nobody in the family is concerned."

Mary Atkins, who had taken her daughter to the hospital for medical treatment on Tuesday, saw Carter from a nearby room and said he was up, walking around and saying he was ready to leave.

The hospital stay has interrupted Carter's tour to promote his new book, "White House Diary."

Planned book-signings in Ohio and North Carolina were called off Tuesday. His publisher also canceled scheduled events in Washington on Wednesday, including one at the Smithsonian Institution. The status of an event planned at a Columbia, S.C., bookstore Thursday was unclear.

Carter, a former peanut farmer elected to the White House in 1976, has spent his recent years pursuing peace and human rights, efforts that won him the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002.